1.
NBC
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The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network that is the flagship property of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The network is part of the Big Three television networks, founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America, NBC is the oldest major broadcast network in the United States. Following the acquisition by GE, Bob Wright served as executive officer of NBC, remaining in that position until his retirement in 2007. In 2003, French media company Vivendi merged its entertainment assets with GE, Comcast purchased a controlling interest in the company in 2011, and acquired General Electrics remaining stake in 2013. Following the Comcast merger, Zucker left NBC Universal and was replaced as CEO by Comcast executive Steve Burke, during a period of early broadcast business consolidation, radio manufacturer Radio Corporation of America acquired New York City radio station WEAF from American Telephone & Telegraph. Westinghouse, a shareholder in RCA, had an outlet in Newark, New Jersey pioneer station WJZ. This station was transferred from Westinghouse to RCA in 1923, WEAF acted as a laboratory for AT&Ts manufacturing and supply outlet Western Electric, whose products included transmitters and antennas. The Bell System, AT&Ts telephone utility, was developing technologies to transmit voice- and music-grade audio over short and long distances, the 1922 creation of WEAF offered a research-and-development center for those activities. WEAF maintained a schedule of radio programs, including some of the first commercially sponsored programs. In an early example of chain or networking broadcasting, the station linked with Outlet Company-owned WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island, AT&T refused outside companies access to its high-quality phone lines. The early effort fared poorly, since the telegraph lines were susceptible to atmospheric. In 1925, AT&T decided that WEAF and its network were incompatible with the companys primary goal of providing a telephone service. AT&T offered to sell the station to RCA in a deal that included the right to lease AT&Ts phone lines for network transmission, the divisions ownership was split among RCA, its founding corporate parent General Electric and Westinghouse. NBC officially started broadcasting on November 15,1926, WEAF and WJZ, the flagships of the two earlier networks, were operated side-by-side for about a year as part of the new NBC. On April 5,1927, NBC expanded to the West Coast with the launch of the NBC Orange Network and this was followed by the debut of the NBC Gold Network, also known as the Pacific Gold Network, on October 18,1931. The Orange Network carried Red Network programming, and the Gold Network carried programming from the Blue Network, initially, the Orange Network recreated Eastern Red Network programming for West Coast stations at KPO in San Francisco. The Orange Network name was removed from use in 1936, at the same time, the Gold Network became part of the Blue Network. In the 1930s, NBC also developed a network for shortwave radio stations, in 1927, NBC moved its operations to 711 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, occupying the upper floors of a building designed by architect Floyd Brown
2.
Martha Scott
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Martha Ellen Scott was an American actress. She was featured in films like Cecil B. DeMilles The Ten Commandments, and William Wylers Ben-Hur, Scott was born in Jamesport, Missouri, the daughter of Letha and Walter Alva Scott, an engineer and garage owner. Her mother was a second-cousin of U. S. President William McKinley, the Scott family remained in Jamesport until Martha was thirteen years old when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri and eventually to Detroit Michigan. Scott became interested in acting in school, an interest she furthered by attending the University of Michigan, earning a teaching certificate. Following that she moved to New York City, where she found work both in stock stage productions and in radio dramas. In 1938 she made her Broadway debut in the staging of Thornton Wilders play Our Town as Emily Webb. Two years later Scott reprised the role of Emily in her debut when Our Town was made into a movie. Her critically acclaimed performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, the newcomer Scott was up against some of Hollywoods biggest names for the award, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Fontaine, Bette Davis, and the winner Ginger Rogers. Charlton Heston was a frequent co-star with Scott on both stage and screen, as she told an interviewer in 1988, I played his mother twice, I was his mother in Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments. I was his wife on the stage in New York in Design For a Stained Glass Window, in 1968, Scott joined Henry Fonda and Robert Ryan in forming a theatrical production company called The Plumstead Playhouse. It later became the Plumstead Theatre Company and moved to Los Angeles, the company produced First Monday in October, both on stage and on film. Her last production was Twelve Angry Men, which was performed at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, Martha Scott first began appearing in TV roles in the mediums early days. Her first came in 1950 on The Nash Airflyte Theater, followed by several guest appearances on Robert Montgomery Presents and this pattern of guest episodic roles continued through the 1960s with appearances on Route 66, Ironside, and The Courtship of Eddies Father among others. In the mid-1950s, Scott was the narrator for Modern Romances, Scott was a frequent TV guest star in the 1970s. Scott was cast in single episode guest appearances on hit shows of the era like The Sandy Duncan Show, Columbo, Playback, The Mod Squad, Marcus Welby, M. D. She played the role of Jennifer Talbot, Terri Brocks nasty grandmother on General Hospital for six months which ended when her character was murdered and stuffed in a drain pipe. In the 1980s she had a role on the short-lived series Secrets of Midland Heights, several television movies
3.
Mel Blanc
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Melvin Jerome Mel Blanc was an American voice actor, actor, radio comedian, and recording artist. Coyote, Road Runner, the Tasmanian Devil, and many of the characters from the Looney Tunes. He was, in fact, the voice for all of the major male Warner Bros. cartoon characters except for Elmer Fudd and he later worked for Hanna-Barberas television cartoons, most notably as the voices of Barney Rubble on The Flintstones and Mr. Spacely on The Jetsons. Blanc was also the voice of Woody Woodpecker for Universal Pictures. Having earned the nickname The Man of a Thousand Voices, Blanc is regarded as one of the most influential people in the voice-acting industry, Blanc was born in San Francisco, California to Russian-Jewish parents Frederick and Eva Blank, the younger of two children. He grew up in the neighborhood of Western Addition in San Francisco, growing up, he had a fondness for voices and dialect which he began voicing at the age of 10. He claimed that he changed the spelling of his name when he was 16, from Blank to Blanc, because a teacher told him that he would amount to nothing and be like his name, a blank. Blanc joined The Order of DeMolay as a man, and was eventually inducted into its Hall of Fame. He moved to Los Angeles in 1932, where he met Estelle Rosenbaum and he moved to KEX in 1933 to produce and co-host his Cobweb and Nuts show with his wife Estelle, which debuted on June 15. The program played Monday through Saturday from 11,00 pm to midnight, with his wifes encouragement, Blanc returned to Los Angeles and joined Warner Bros. –owned KFWB in Hollywood in 1935. He joined The Johnny Murray Show, but the year switched to CBS Radio. The first role came from a mishap when the recording of the automobiles sounds failed to play on cue, prompting Blanc to take the microphone, the audience reacted so positively that Benny decided to dispense with the recording altogether and have Blanc continue in that role. One of Blancs most memorable characters from Bennys radio programs was Sy, the Little Mexican, sue. sew routine was so effective that no matter how many times it was performed, the laughter was always there, thanks to the comedic timing of Blanc and Benny. Blanc continued to work with him on radio until the series ended in 1955 and they last appeared together on a Johnny Carson Tonight Show in January 1974. A few months later, Blanc spoke highly of Benny on a Tom Snyder Tomorrow show special aired the night of the comedians death, by 1946, Blanc appeared on over 15 radio programs in supporting roles. His success on The Jack Benny Program led to his own show on the CBS Radio Network, The Mel Blanc Show. Blanc played himself as the owner of a fix-it shop. Blanc also appeared on other national radio programs as The Abbott and Costello Show, the Happy Postman on Burns and Allen
4.
Radio
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When radio waves strike an electrical conductor, the oscillating fields induce an alternating current in the conductor. The information in the waves can be extracted and transformed back into its original form, Radio systems need a transmitter to modulate some property of the energy produced to impress a signal on it, for example using amplitude modulation or angle modulation. Radio systems also need an antenna to convert electric currents into radio waves, an antenna can be used for both transmitting and receiving. The electrical resonance of tuned circuits in radios allow individual stations to be selected, the electromagnetic wave is intercepted by a tuned receiving antenna. Radio frequencies occupy the range from a 3 kHz to 300 GHz, a radio communication system sends signals by radio. The term radio is derived from the Latin word radius, meaning spoke of a wheel, beam of light, however, this invention would not be widely adopted. The switch to radio in place of wireless took place slowly and unevenly in the English-speaking world, the United States Navy would also play a role. Although its translation of the 1906 Berlin Convention used the terms wireless telegraph and wireless telegram, the term started to become preferred by the general public in the 1920s with the introduction of broadcasting. Radio systems used for communication have the following elements, with more than 100 years of development, each process is implemented by a wide range of methods, specialised for different communications purposes. Each system contains a transmitter, This consists of a source of electrical energy, the transmitter contains a system to modulate some property of the energy produced to impress a signal on it. This modulation might be as simple as turning the energy on and off, or altering more subtle such as amplitude, frequency, phase. Amplitude modulation of a carrier wave works by varying the strength of the signal in proportion to the information being sent. For example, changes in the strength can be used to reflect the sounds to be reproduced by a speaker. It was the used for the first audio radio transmissions. Frequency modulation varies the frequency of the carrier, the instantaneous frequency of the carrier is directly proportional to the instantaneous value of the input signal. FM has the capture effect whereby a receiver only receives the strongest signal, Digital data can be sent by shifting the carriers frequency among a set of discrete values, a technique known as frequency-shift keying. FM is commonly used at Very high frequency radio frequencies for high-fidelity broadcasts of music, analog TV sound is also broadcast using FM. Angle modulation alters the phase of the carrier wave to transmit a signal
5.
Coca-Cola
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Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink produced by The Coca-Cola Company. The drinks name refers to two of its ingredients, which were kola nuts and coca leaves. The current formula of Coca-Cola remains a secret, although a variety of reported recipes. The Coca-Cola Company produces concentrate, which is sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers throughout the world. The bottlers, who hold exclusive territory contracts with the company, produce the product in cans and bottles from the concentrate, in combination with filtered water. A typical 12-US-fluid-ounce can contains 38 grams of sugar, the bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise Coca-Cola to retail stores, restaurants and vending machines throughout the world. The Coca-Cola Company also sells concentrate for soda fountains of major restaurants, the Coca-Cola Company has on occasion introduced other cola drinks under the Coke name. Based on Interbrands best global brand study of 2015, Coca-Cola was the third most valuable brand. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries worldwide, confederate Colonel John Pemberton, who was wounded in the American Civil War and became addicted to morphine, began a quest to find a substitute for the problematic drug. The prototype Coca-Cola recipe was formulated at Pembertons Eagle Drug and Chemical House and he may have been inspired by the formidable success of Vin Mariani, a French coca wine. It is also worth noting that a Spanish drink called Kola Coca was presented at a contest in Philadelphia in 1885, the patent for this Spanish drink was bought by Coca-Cola in 1953. In 1885, Pemberton registered his French Wine Coca nerve tonic, in 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County passed prohibition legislation, Pemberton responded by developing Coca-Cola, a nonalcoholic version of French Wine Coca. The first sales were at Jacobs Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, Pemberton claimed Coca-Cola cured many diseases, including morphine addiction, indigestion, nerve disorders, headaches, and impotence. Pemberton ran the first advertisement for the beverage on May 29 of the year in the Atlanta Journal. By 1888, three versions of Coca-Cola – sold by three separate businesses – were on the market, a co-partnership had been formed on January 14,1888 between Pemberton and four Atlanta businessmen, J. C. Mayfield, A. O. Not codified by any signed document, a statement given by Asa Candler years later asserted under testimony that he had acquired a stake in Pembertons company as early as 1887. John Pemberton declared that the name Coca-Cola belonged to his son, Charley, Charleys exclusive control over the Coca Cola name became a continual thorn in Asa Candlers side. Candlers oldest son, Charles Howard Candler, authored a book in 1950 published by Emory University, in this definitive biography about his father, Candler specifically states
6.
The Real McCoys
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The Real McCoys is an American situation comedy co-produced by Danny Thomass Marterto Productions in association with Walter Brennan and Irving Pincuss Westgate Company. The series aired for six seasons altogether, the first five on the ABC-TV network from 1957 through 1962 and in its year,1962 to 1963. Set in the San Fernando Valley of California, the series was filmed in Hollywood at Desilu studios, the Real McCoys revolves around the lives of a family from the Appalachian Mountains who originally hailed from fictional Smokey Corners, West Virginia. The McCoys moved to California and became dirt farmers, the family consisted of Grandpa Amos McCoy, his grandson Luke, Lukes new bride Kate, Lukes teenage sister Tallahassie Hassie, and his 11-year-old brother Little Luke. The double-naming of the brothers was explained in the first episode by the elder Luke, Because their parents were so excited over the birth of the younger boy, only Crenna was in every episode. The McCoys farm had previously owned by an uncle, Ben McCoy. The former West Virginians joined the Grange farm association and acquired a Mexican farm hand named Pepino Garcia, in the episode which aired on January 8,1962, Pepino becomes an American citizen and takes the surname McCoy. The McMichaels, a brother and sister played by Andy Clyde and Madge Blake in twenty-nine and twenty-one episodes, respectively. Amos McCoy and George McMichael, both rather devious individuals, would sometimes quarrel, particularly over their games of checkers and horseshoes, Kate was friendly with the much older Flora McMichael, Georges sister, and became involved with life in the community. In Little Lukes Education, Amos confronts bigotry among the children against hillbilly peoples such as the McCoys. Then Amos is invited to speak at a Veterans Day ceremony, jon Lormer was cast seven times on The Real McCoys in 1959 and 1960, six as the character Sam Watkins. Joan Blondell appeared three times near the end of the series as Aunt Win, marjorie Bennett was cast three times as Amanda Comstock. Pat Buttram and Howard McNear also appeared three times, they were subsequently cast as Eustace Haney on CBSs Green Acres and as Floyd the Barber on CBSs The Andy Griffith Show, olin Howland and Willard Waterman appeared five times each as Charley Perkins and Mac Maginnis, respectively. In 1963, Jack Oakie appeared three times in the role of Uncle Rightly, malcolm Cassell appeared several times as Hassie McCoys boyfriend, Tommy. Edward Everett Horton played J. Luther Medwick, the grandfather of Hassies other boyfriend, Jerry, Medwick, verna Felton, a member of the December Bride cast, appeared once as Cousin Naomi Vesper. On June 1,1961, Amos, Luke, and Kate return to West Virginia for the 100th birthday gathering of Grandmother McCoy, in one episode, Lee Van Cleef played a sentry, in another Tom Skerritt appeared as a letter carrier. The episode The Tycoon four years later became the title of Brennans next ABC sitcom, The Tycoon. Barbara Stanwyck made a appearance in the 1959 episode, The McCoys Go To Hollywood, which also features Dorothy Provine, and a glimpse of the Desilu Studios
7.
Edgar Bergen
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Edgar John Bergen was an American actor, comedian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. He is also the father of actress Candice Bergen, Bergen was born in Chicago, Illinois, one of five children and the youngest of two sons of Swedish immigrants Nilla Svensdotter and Johan Henriksson Berggren. He lived on a farm near Decatur, Michigan until he was 4 when his family returned to Sweden where he learned the language and he taught himself ventriloquism from a pamphlet called The Wizards Manual when he was 11 after his family returned to Chicago. He attended Lake View High School, after his father died when he was just 16, he went out to work as an apprentice accountant, a furnace stoke, a player piano operator, and a projectionist in a silent-movie house. The famous ventriloquist Harry Lester was so impressed by Edgar that he gave the teenager almost daily lessons for three months in the fundamentals of ventriloquism. In the fall of 1919, Edgar paid Chicago woodcarver Theodore Mack $36 to sculpt a likeness of a rascally red-headed Irish newspaperboy he knew, the head went on a dummy named Charlie McCarthy, which became Bergens lifelong sidekick. He had created the body himself, using a length of broomstick for the backbone. For college he attended Northwestern University where he was enrolled in the program to please his mother. He switched to Speech & Drama but never completed his degree and he gave his first public performance at Waveland Avenue Congregational Church located on the northeast corner of Waveland and Janssen. He lived across the street from the church and he cut out an R and a G from his family name and went from Berggren to Bergen on the showbills. Between June 1922 and August 1925, he performed every summer on the professional Chautauqua circuit, Bergen had an interest in aviation, becoming a private pilot. His first performances were in vaudeville, at which point he changed his last name to the easier-to-pronounce Bergen. He worked in one-reel movie shorts, but his success was on the radio. He and Charlie were seen at a New York party by Elsa Maxwell for Noël Coward and it was there that two producers saw Bergen and Charlie perform. They then recommended them for a guest appearance on Rudy Vallées program and their initial appearance was so successful that the following year they were given regular cast rolls as part of The Chase and Sanborn Hour. Under various sponsors, they were on the air from May 9,1937 to July 1,1956, the popularity of a ventriloquist on radio, when one could see neither the dummies nor his skill, surprised and puzzled many critics, then and now. Even knowing that Bergen provided the voice, listeners perceived Charlie as a genuine person, thus, in 1947, Sam Berman caricatured Bergen and McCarthy for the networks glossy promotional book, NBC Parade of Stars, As Heard Over Your Favorite NBC Station. Bergens skill as an entertainer, especially his characterization of Charlie, Bergens success on radio was paralleled in the United Kingdom by Peter Brough and his dummy Archie Andrews
8.
Fibber McGee and Molly
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Fibber McGee and Molly was an American radio comedy series. The title characters were created and portrayed by Jim and Marian Jordan, as with most radio comedies of the era, Fibber McGee and Molly featured an announcer, house band and vocal quartet for interludes. The stars of the program were real-life husband and wife team James Jim Jordan and Marian Driscoll, Jordan was the seventh of eight children born to James Edward Jordan and Mary Jordan, while Driscoll was the twelfth out of thirteen children born to Daniel P. and Anna Driscoll. The son of a farmer, Jim wanted to be a singer, Marian, both attended the same Catholic church, where they met at choir practice. Marians parents had attempted to discourage her professional singing and acting aspirations, when she started seeing young Jim Jordan, the Driscolls were far from approving of Jim and his ideas. Jims voice teacher gave him a recommendation for work as a professional in Chicago and he was able to have steady work but soon tired of the life on the road. In less than a year, Jim came back to Peoria and his occupation was now acceptable to Marians parents, and they stopped objecting to the couples marriage plans. The pair were married in Peoria on August 31,1918, Five days after the wedding, Jim received his draft notice. He was sent to France and became part of a touring group that entertained the armed forces after World War I. When Jim came home from France, he and Marian decided to try their luck with a vaudeville act and they had two children, Kathryn Therese Jordan and James Carroll Jordan, both born in Peoria. Marian returned home for the birth of Kathryn but went back to performing with Jim, after Jim Jr. was born in 1923, Marian stayed with the children for a time, while Jim performed as a solo act. Marian and the children joined him on the road for a short time, the couples parents had to wire them money for their return to Peoria. Jim went to work at a department store but still felt the attraction of being in show business. He and Marian went back into vaudeville, while staying with Jims brother in Chicago in 1924, the family was listening to the radio, Jim said that he and Marian could do better than the musical act currently on the air. Jims brother bet him $10 that they could not, to win the bet, Jim and Marian went to WIBO, where they were immediately put on the air. At the end of the performance, the offered the couple a contract for a weekly show. The sponsor of the show was Oh Henry, candy, and they appeared for six months on The Oh Henry. Twins program, switching to radio station WENR by 1927, when it appeared to the couple that they were financially successful, they built a home in Chicago, which was a replica of their rented home, complete to building it on the lot next door
9.
Harold Peary
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While in San Francisco, he also had several parts in Wheatenaville, a program broadcast on NBCs Pacific network beginning September 26,1932. In Chicago he became a regular on Fibber McGee and Molly, the character actually went through several first names and occupations before settling on Throckmorton Philharmonic Gildersleeve and his ownership of the Gildersleeve Girdleworks. Pearys Gildersleeve proved popular enough that it was thought to try the character in his own show, johnsons Wax, which sponsored Fibber McGee & Molly, sponsored an audition recording for The Great Gildersleeve, and the Kraft Cheese Company signed on as the shows regular sponsor. With much of his pomposity and cantankerousness toned down, he was also newly domesticated and appointed guardian of his orphan niece Marjorie, implicitly well-off though by no means wealthy, Gildersleeve was depicted winding up his lingerie-making company and taking up a new life as Summerfields water commissioner. The Great Gildersleeve premiered August 31,1941, and became a hit for the rest of the decade, Pearys sonorous voice. The shows humor, like that of McGee, was drawn through clever word-play and phrasemaking as well as Gildersleeves earnest stumbling and his new nemesis was Judge Horace Hooker, who oversaw his guardianship of Marjorie and Leroy and became a friend and periodic rival in various schemes. Periodically, storylines were serialized, such as some of Gildersleeves romantic interests and political aspirations, other characters in and out of the Gildersleeve orbit included Richard LeGrand as Peavey the druggist, Arthur Q. Peary also featured in four Great Gildersleeve feature films during the 1940s, by 1950, however, Pearys run as Gildersleeve was over. Radio historian Gerald Nachman, in Raised on Radio, said Peary, the problem was that Kraft wasnt willing to make the move with him. And they had a successor ready—Willard Waterman, whose voice resembled Pearys, Waterman refused to appropriate the famous Gildersleeve laugh, believing Peary alone should have title to that trademark, but otherwise slipped easily into the role. Without Peary, however, Gildersleeve struggled on a few more radio years, at CBS, Peary began a new situation comedy, The Harold Peary Show, sometimes known as Honest Harold, a title that was actually the name of the fictitious radio show the new character hosted. Radio veteran Joseph Kearns played veterinarian Dr. Yancey, known better as Doc Yak-Yak, the new show also borrowed a few Gildersleeve plot devices, such as running for mayor and engagements to two women. Additionally, Honest Harolds secretary at the station, Glory, bears a more than passing resemblance to Gildersleeves Water Department secretary, Bessie. Despite these efforts to recreate the power and ratings of The Great Gildersleeve and this remains to this date, a monumental feat. Other than the four Gildersleeve films, Peary appeared in the Walt Disney movie A Tiger Walks and he also worked in television, playing murderer Freddy Fell in the 1965 Perry Mason episode, The Case of the Lovers Gamble. That same year he played Peabody in the Rod Serling-scripted Sheriff of Fettermans Crossing episode of Lloyd Bridges Western series The Loner. K, crackerby, My Mother, The Car, Petticoat Junction, That Girl, The Brady Bunch and Love, American Style. In the 1960s and 70s, Peary was also featured in a series of television ads for Faygo soda pop. Peary worked as a jockey at radio station WMGM in New York City
10.
Lillian Randolph
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Lillian Randolph was an American actress and singer, a veteran of radio, film, and television. She worked in entertainment from the 1930s until shortly before her death and she appeared in hundreds of radio shows, motion pictures, short subjects, and television shows. Randolph is most recognized for appearing in Its a Wonderful Life, Magic and The Onion Field and she prominently contributed her voice to the character Mammy Two Shoes in the Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts between 1940 and 1952. Born Castello Randolph in Knoxville, Tennessee, she was the sister of actress Amanda Randolph. The daughter of a Methodist minister and a teacher, she began her career singing on local radio in Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit. At Detroits WXYZ, Lillian was noticed by George W. Trendle, station owner and developer of The Lone Ranger and he got her into radio training courses which paid off in roles for local radio shows. Lillian was tutored for three months on racial dialect before getting any radio roles and she moved on to Los Angeles in 1936 to work on Al Jolsons radio show, on Big Town, on the Al Pearce show, and to sing at the Club Alabam there. Lillian opened her home again during World War II with weekly dinners, Lillian got the Gildersleeve job on the basis of her wonderful laugh. Upon hearing the Gildersleeve program was beginning, Randolph made a dash to NBC and she tore down the halls, when she opened the door for the program, she fell on her face. Randolph was not hurt and she laughed—this got her the job and she also portrayed Birdie in the television version of The Great Gildersleeve. In the spring of 1955, Lillian was asked to perform the Gospel song, on the television version of the Gildersleeve show. The positive response from viewers resulted in a Gospel album by Lillian on Dootone Records, somehow she also found the time for the role of Mrs. Watson on The Baby Snooks Show and Daisy on The Billie Burke Show. Her best known roles were those of Annie in Its a Wonderful Life and Bessie in The Bachelor. The bulk of the residents who were members of the entertainment community had already moved to places like Beverly Hills. In the 1940s, members of the African-American entertainment community discovered the charms of the district and began purchasing homes there, hattie McDaniel was one of the first African-American residents. Lillian Randolph and her husband, boxer Jack Chase, were victims of this type of discrimination, in 1946, the couple purchased a home on West Adams Boulevard with a restrictive covenant that barred them from moving into it. The US Supreme Court declared the practice unconstitutional in 1948, like her sister, Amanda, Lillian was also one of the actresses to play the part of Beulah on radio. She played Beulah until 1953, when Amanda took over for her, in 1954, Lillian had her own daily radio show in Hollywood, where those involved in acting were featured
11.
Bea Benaderet
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Beatrice “Bea” Benaderet was an American actress born in New York City and reared in San Francisco, California. Her major breaks in radio came on The Jack Benny Program and she did a great deal of voice work in Warner Bros. animated cartoons of the 1940s and early 1950s, most famously as Granny. Benaderet was born in 1906 in Manhattan, although occasionally her year of birth was given as 1907 or 1909 in census records and her father Samuel was a Turkish Jewish emigrant. Her family moved to San Francisco, California, around 1910, where she attended St. Rose Academy and her debut on radio came when she was 12. She had performed in a production of The Beggars Opera on KGO. Her first job in radio was at KFRC in San Francisco and her responsibilities there included acting, singing, writing, and producing. She first received notice for her work in the 1940s on Fibber McGee & Molly, The Jack Benny Program, My Favorite Husband, The Mel Blanc Show, The Great Gildersleeve. She played Blanche Morton, the neighbor to George Burns and Gracie Allen. In 1949, she guest-starred as Fanny Philipot Burns on the Young Love episode The Dean Gets Married, vivian Vance, a relatively unknown character actress and singer, was eventually cast in the Ethel Mertz part. Benaderet did eventually appear in a guest role on I Love Lucy on January 21,1952, as Miss Lewis, Benaderet was a cast member of the NBC sitcom series Peter Loves Mary starring Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy. Peter Loves Mary ran during the 1960-1961 season and she was twice nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. In addition to her more familiar comedic roles, Benaderet had a role in The Restless Gun in 1959. Benaderet voiced numerous characters in the Warner Bros. animated shorts of the 1940s, including Granny. She performed the voice of Granny until 1955, when she was succeeded by June Foray and she also portrayed Little Red Riding Hood as a loud, obnoxious teenager in the 1944 Bugs Bunny cartoon Little Red Riding Rabbit. Benaderet also voiced Betty Rubble in The Flintstones from seasons one to four before resigning in 1964 due to the workload on Petticoat Junction, Benaderet and her first husband, actor Jim Bannon had two children, Jack, an actor, and Maggie. Benaderet was busy during the last decade of her life, starting with a role as Betty Rubble in the animated series The Flintstones. The Flintstones reunited Benaderet with her 1940s co-workers Alan Reed and Mel Blanc, Henning cast Benaderet as middle-aged, widowed Cousin Pearl Bodine, and she appeared in the pilot, as well as a majority of episodes throughout the series first season. Cousin Pearl and her daughter Jethrine moved into the Clampett mansion in the first season, however, the female Bodines disappeared after Henning cast Benaderet in his next series Petticoat Junction, which premiered in September 1963
12.
Una Merkel
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Una Merkel was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress. Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s and she went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film actress. Two of her performances are in the films 42nd Street. She won a Tony award in 1956, and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1961, Una Merkel was born in Covington, Kentucky, but in her early childhood, she lived in many of the Southern United States due to her fathers job as a traveling salesman. At the age of 15, her parents and she moved to Philadelphia and they stayed there a year or so before settling in New York City, where she began attending the Alviene School of Dramatic Art. Because of her resemblance to actress Lillian Gish, Merkel was offered a part as Gishs youngest sister in a silent film called World Shadows. Unfortunately, the public never saw the film because funding for it dried up, Merkel went on to appear in a few silent films during the silent era, several of them for the Lee Bradford Corporation. She also appeared in the two-reel Loves Old Sweet Song, which was made by Lee DeForest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process and starred Louis Wolheim and Helen Weir. Not making much of a mark in films, Merkel turned her attention to the theater and her biggest triumph was in Coquette, which starred her idol, Helen Hayes. Invited to Hollywood by famous director D. W. Griffith to play Ann Rutledge in his Abraham Lincoln, with her Kewpie-doll looks, strong Southern accent, and wry line delivery, Merkel enlivened scores of films in the 1930s. She even had the distinction of playing Sam Spades secretary in the original 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon, Merkel was a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player from 1932 to 1938, appearing in as many as 12 films in a year, often on loan-out to other studios. She was also often cast as leading lady to a number of actors in their pictures, including Jack Benny, Harold Lloyd, Franchot Tone. In 42nd Street, Merkel played a show girl who was Ginger Rogers characters buddy. In the famous Shuffle Off to Buffalo number, Merkel and Rogers sang the verse, shell be wanting alimony in a year or so. /Still they go and shuffle, shuffle off to Buffalo. Merkel appeared in both the 1934 and the 1952 film versions of The Merry Widow, playing different roles in each and she played the elder daughter to the W. C. Fields character, Egbert Sousé, in the 1940 film The Bank Dick and her film career went into decline during the 1940s, although she continued working in smaller productions. In 1950, she was leading lady to William Bendix in the baseball comedy Kill the Umpire and she made a comeback as a middle-aged woman playing mothers and maiden aunts, and in 1956 won a Tony Award for her role on Broadway in The Ponder Heart. She had a part in the MGM1959 film The Mating Game as Paul Douglas wife and Debbie Reynoldss mother
